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Book of Jasher Referred to in Joshua and Second Samuel

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This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

276 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1552

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Jasher

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5 stars
374 (57%)
4 stars
156 (23%)
3 stars
89 (13%)
2 stars
22 (3%)
1 star
13 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 65 reviews
1 review
September 6, 2008
This is one of the best books I have read lately. If you enjoy the reading the Bible you will love this book. It gives a more detailed account of the happenings in the bible. This book was written by Jasher who is mentioned in the Bible twice. I enjoy the details about the 12 sons of Israel ( Jacob ) and Israel himself. I feel like I know these people better after reading this book. This book is more historical rather than a spiritual account. However it does still talk about the relationship between God and the people of this time but it is a little different. Every time I don't have a good book to read or I feel like I am forgetting some of the details I pick it up and read it again. I never get tired of it. Highly Recommended!!!!!!!!! Kayt
Profile Image for Brent McGregor.
125 reviews9 followers
October 4, 2013
Aside from the disputed nature of the book and questioned authenticity, when taken with a little salt and viewed with a wary eye, this book is very interesting.

Mostly, retelling stories we are all familiar with, the book of Jasher adds some interesting insights into many of these old stories.

Three that were imagination inspiring: How Pharaoh came to be and a listing of all the post Tower of Babel migrations (wonder how many ended up in South America), and more details of Abraham's story. Terah was not a nice guy.

I've just read it again, 2013, and it just gets more fun to read.

Still, this is a grain of salt kind of read.
Profile Image for John Martindale.
887 reviews104 followers
July 13, 2013
Joshua 10:13 and 2 Samuel 1:18 both mention the book of Jasher. It's been years now, but I just remembered reading Jasher around 10 years ago online and it was like Paul Harvey's "the rest of the story." It fills in many of the details concerning biblical protagonist and their stories. I recall it being a very interesting read and it is indeed note-worthy that two biblical writer's mentioned it as a reference; a source of authority in that day.
Profile Image for Sheralyn.
Author 22 books285 followers
January 8, 2009
One of my favorite apocryphal books. Like reading a more mythical/readable version of the first Old Testament stories. Also, I have it on good authority that, dramatized or not, the book is completely accurate with all dates and historical timelines, so it was likely written at the time or by an informed scholar, shortly thereafter.
Profile Image for Jaclynn.
220 reviews
July 21, 2009
Delve further into the biblical history from Adam to until the Israelites reach the promised land with details and stories you’ve never read before. This isn’t a new story book though but rather a great addition to what is in the Bible. I “ate up” this book and found a lot more insight into the familiar bible stories from the Old Testament.
Profile Image for India Lavoyce.
128 reviews11 followers
August 14, 2018
This book was mentioned in Joshua and in 2nd Samuel in the Bible. I had never heard of it. I saw it in a bookstore a few years ago. The Book of Jasher answered some questions that I had after reading the Bible. It went in more detail and even had some events that weren’t mentioned in the Bible. I love Historical & Biblical writing, so I was bound to love this.
14 reviews
August 26, 2018
Jasher

The history of Israel with more details concerning their beginning to obtaining the inheritance.
I liked learning what happened behind the scenes.
Highly recommend this book for bible scholars with inquiring minds that want to know.
Profile Image for Dawn Harper.
70 reviews
March 30, 2021
A must read for serious students of antediluvian and end times research. This extra biblical text helps to flesh out some of the more skeletal accounts in Scriptures.
2 reviews
May 21, 2017
Good history of the Israelites

This book would be good for anyone wishing to know more about how the Lord dealt with the Israelites and fulfilling his covenant to Abraham and his descendants.
Profile Image for Judy.
1,287 reviews
May 19, 2018
Interesting to read and compare with Genesis and Exodus
Some interesting insights and also fantastic events presented.
Profile Image for Young Soo Jeon.
7 reviews
April 13, 2019
We need this Book as a good reference.

We need this Book as a good reference. More specific contents help us understand the BIBLE more deeply and more widely.
1 review1 follower
May 4, 2019
Loved it!

Where has this book been all of my life! I've learned so much about the patriarchs and their exploits. The sons of Jacob? Wow! Moses, King of Cush for 40 years? Wow!
Profile Image for Christy.
1,053 reviews29 followers
February 7, 2021
Sort of parallels the first five books of the Old Testament, with some of Joshua. There’s a lot less doctrine than we find in our standard scriptures, but a lot more detail. For example, in the story of Pharaoh’s dream of the seven fat cows and the seven lean cows, and then the ears of corn, Genesis tells us that Pharaoh called the magicians and wise men together, “but there was none that could interpret them.” The Book of Jasher tells us all the wild and crazy interpretations of the wise men and magicians, and how Pharaoh didn’t believe any of them, and had them all killed. Maybe that really happened, and maybe it didn’t, but it sure makes interesting reading. I could say the same for the whole book. Maybe it all happened, and maybe it didn’t, but it’s sure hard to put down.
Profile Image for J. Michael.
133 reviews5 followers
Read
May 13, 2025
Certainly interesting and plausible. I enjoyed it but the dating and discovery of the text itself raises some serious concerns of its legitimacy. Tough to rate.
283 reviews
August 25, 2025
As it turns out I love the Torah stories…even when repackaged in a 17th century apocryphal midrash.
Profile Image for Raquel.
58 reviews
January 26, 2021
Great medieval midrash on the Hebrew Bible stories. Some things might raise eyebrows on the anachronisms (King Latinus? Lumbardi?), but what ancient stories have not been interpolated by anachronisms?
Profile Image for Scott.
241 reviews
March 23, 2010
This has been a favorite book of mine since a seminary teacher introduced me to it in 9th grade. I read it first in high school, again in my early 20's, and now a 3rd time in my late 30's. It definitely helps that I'm reading Genesis now at the same time. It has helped me appreciate how much more the Book of Jasher offers. As always, there is plenty of the fantastical here that defies credulity--like Judah throwing an enormous stone in the air, catching it with one hand, and then sitting on it hard until it crumbled to dust--all to try to intimidate Joseph (who hadn't yet revealed himself) into not taking Benjamin captive. Some things like that are laughable, and when they put outlandish things like that into my favorite stories, it gets annoying. But aside from that tomfoolery, the book has much to commend it, and I believe it contains truths that are missing from the Genesis account.

My most memorable part: Abraham smashing his father's idols, and putting the hammer in the hands of his dad's favorite statue. When his father accused him of destroying them, he straightface told him that the favorite idol had done it, because he was jealous of the other ones taking a burnt offering that was intended for himself. When Abraham's father denied this was possible, because they are only made of stone and wood, Abraham had caught him--I paraphrase: "Then why do you worship idols of stone and wood that can neither speak nor act?"
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Ger.
94 reviews5 followers
April 24, 2009
The text provides some great insights to many stories in the old testiment. I would recommend reading it but it is likely that some of it isn't pure gospel truth.
352 reviews6 followers
December 19, 2010
This is a very nice read. Adds a lot to Biblical stories. The copy that I have was published in 1967 and is a reprint of a book by J. H. Parry & Company in 1887.
Profile Image for Aharon.
6 reviews2 followers
March 17, 2013
bible belivers need to read this book fills in many holes in the stories of the bible.
1 review
October 25, 2017
Yashar

Very compelling book. Translation very well done.
I have read many of the translations this one is the best I have read
I have read.
2 reviews
April 10, 2020
A most read for all believers in The Most High

Enjoyed this tremendously. A great addition to the bible as mentioned in the book of Joshua 10:13 and 2 Samuel 1:18.
15 reviews
July 10, 2019
Excellent

How fortunate we are to have this book to flesh out the Bible. We have the opportunity to know the tribes of Israel better.

Profile Image for Kenneth.
1,140 reviews65 followers
March 7, 2023
This book is purportedly the book referred to at least twice in the Old Testament, in Joshua and Second Samuel. It's a translation of a book printed in Venice, Italy in 1625. Based on an article I found online when googling it, many scholars today believe that it was written in medieval Spain, although there is a tradition that it was discovered in the ruins of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem in 70AD when the Romans destroyed it - a Roman soldier found a man in a hidden library and he took him and the books to his residence in Seville, Spain, and thence it came down to modern times. Regardless, it is a fascinating read that recounts the biblical history of the world from Adam's creation down to just after Joshua and the Israelites' conquest of Canaan. There are a lot of additional stories about key biblical figures and a bunch of others not in the canonical texts. For instance, there is a story about Abram (Abraham) being thrown into a fiery furnace by King Nimrod, sort of like Daniel was many centuries later. There are accounts of all kinds of wars between the various ethnic and kindred groups. Moses is said to have spent some time as a king of Cush after he fled Egypt before he ends up with Reuel the Midianite and marrying his daughter Zipporah. How historical these events are is anyone's guess, but are quite entertaining, nevertheless. And it seems to be agreed that the book does indeed preserve genuine Jewish traditions, some also preserved in the Talmud.

Note - in mid-18th century England a forgery was published that claimed to be the Book of Jasher, not at all related to the book hereunder review.
Profile Image for Zachary Bemrose.
106 reviews
August 9, 2024
The Book of Jasher, also known as the Book of Just Ones is my second book of The Apocrypha I have read. I recently decided to dive into these non canonical books. For those that don’t know what the Apocrapha is: It’s collection of texts that aren’t canonical but have some ties that are relate back to canonical biblical writings. For example The book of Jasher is mentioned in Joshua 10:13 (“Is not this written in the Book of Jasher?), and 2 Samuel 1:18-27 (“Behold it is written in the Book of Jasher.”).

From the research I have done, scholars believe that The Book of Jasher has likely, in its original form, been lost to time. We do have a number of translations (including a forgery believed to have been created in the 1700s), but we don’t truly know if the copy we have now reflects the original writing. Some Bibles do include the Book of Jasher such as the Latin Vulgate Bible, but the Catholic church has since removed the book from the Biblical canon. Since we don’t have the original copy, and only a suspect “translation” we don’t know exactly what the Book of Jasher originally said. Therefore, scholars leave it out of the Scriptural canon.

The book of Jasher covers the Mosaic period of the Bible presented in Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, and Joshua. It expands on stories told in these five canonical books and embellishes them greatly. The exploits of the sons of Jacob especially.

Read this one with a grain of salt.

Godspeed friends,

Z
Profile Image for M Edi.
88 reviews2 followers
January 13, 2021
قضيت ما يقارب العام في قراءة و دراسة الدين المسيحي و اسفاره والدين الهودي .. و صرفت مئات الساعات في محاضرات في العهد القديم و الجديد و قارنت بين الاديان الإبراهيمية الثلاث من حيث التشريع و قصص الانبياء والنبوءات و اليوم الاخر..
لا شك ان هذا السفر يشرح باقي الاسفار القانونية و يقترب في كثير من الاحيان( الى حد المطابقة احيانا) من قصص القرآن..
استمتعت بقراءته دفعة واحدة بعد ان قرأته باجزاء صغيرة خلال دراستي .. الصورة باتت أوضح الآن..

مقدمة الناشر..
يغطي سفر جاشر عدة اسفار للكتاب المقدس المقدمة في سفر التكوين ، الخروج ، العدد ، سفر التثنية ، يشوع بتفصيل أكبر وبتفسيرات غير موجودة في وثائق العهد القديم الحالية. اعتبر البعض أن هذا الكتاب الغير معترف به ككتاب قانوني من الكتب المقدسة هو البداية الأصلية للكتاب المقدس وقد تمت الإشارة إليه في كل من سفر يشوع وكتاب صموئيل الثاني. أليس هذا مكتوبا في سفر ياشر؟ - يشوع ، العاشر. 13. ها هو مكتوب في سفر ياشر. صموئيل 1 _16
Profile Image for ReadingMama.
1,010 reviews
March 16, 2024
이 책은 성경이 안급하는 고대 역사서 가운데 하나로 여호수아서와 사무엘서에 언급된다.
여호수아 10:12-13 “태양이 머물고 달이 멈추기를 백성이 그 대적에게 원수를 갚기까지 하였느니라. 아살의 책에 태양이 중천에 머물러서 거의 종일토록 속히 내려가지 아니하였고 기록되지 아니 하였느냐?

이 책은 창세기부터 사사기1 장 까지의 이야기를 다루고 있으며 성경에 짧게 나오거나 성경에는 나오지 않는 사건들 사이의 이야기들을 기록했다. 특히 창세기 내용은 성경보다 약 두배 정도 더 많은 정보를 담고있다.

이책은 랍비 히브리어로 기록되어 있으며 예루살렘이 티투스 장군에게 점령되었을때 그 곳에서 발견되었으며 베니스에서 1613 년에 인쇄된것으로 전해진다. 아살의 책에서 볼 수 있는 모든것이 성경에 기록된것을 알수 있는데, 차이점은 야살의 책이 성경의 일들을 더 상세히 서술하고 길고 자세하다는 것이다. 그 책의 가치는 고대의 작품으로 흥미로으며 진귀한 문학작품으로 받아 드리는게 좋을듯하다. 또한 이책의 이름이 ”곧바른 책“ 이라고 기록된 것을 발견한다. 왜냐하면 순서와 연속성에 대하여 모든 일리 그것을 세상에서 일어난 그 순서대로이기 때문이다. 모든것이 그것의 장소와 시간안에서 기록 되었다.

이 책이 제공하는 추가작인 정보들로 인간의 창조와 대 홍수의 주제에 대한것과 스무세대의 시대와 그들의 악한 행위들이 기록되어 있다. 또한 세부적인 설명은 내가 미처 이해하지 못한 여러 구약시대를 좀 더 잘 이해할수있는 미켙판응 공급해준다. 예를 들면,이삭은 아브라함에께 기꺼이 본인이 하나님의 재물로 쓰임을 받기를 원했으며, 온 식구가 아브라함이 저지를 일에 대해서 이미 알고 있었다고 설명해준다. 성격적인 진실로 받아 들이지 않더라고 역사적인 문서로는 충분한 가치가 있다고 생각된다.
Author 2 books2 followers
August 1, 2021
Although probably written in the medieval period and therefore not the same Book of Jasher mentioned in the Bible, this book nonetheless is interesting to me. Heavily influenced by the Talmud and Jewish Oral Tradition, this book has sometimes been called a Midrash and was once quite popular among members of the LDS Church.

It begins with a retelling of Adam and Eve and ends with the story of Joshua and a retelling of the events of the Book of Joshua.

Overall a good read for anybody interested in religious texts and/or mythology. I like it!
121 reviews
March 28, 2020
The Book Of Masher or the Upright or Correct Record by Jasher

It is good to go back and read this book from time to time because the Lord always reveals new revelation every time. Thank you and God bless you.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 65 reviews

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